


one

by khayr



Category: Judge Dredd - All Media Types
Genre: Brotp, F/M, a little bit of both, otp: you look ready
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-27
Updated: 2014-03-27
Packaged: 2018-01-17 06:42:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1377676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/khayr/pseuds/khayr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of one sentence drabbles and short paragraphs inspired by a list of a hundred themes... some comic-verse, some movie-verse, some otp and some brotp. Part one of four.</p>
            </blockquote>





	one

  1.        Block riots, day three. Tired Judges in dirt streaked gear linger around waiting for the change in shift. Her back is leaned into his, a moment of quiet calm before the shit hits the fan again. Despite their odds, they always pull through.  

  2.        Sometimes in the quiet hours before morning, she doesn’t need to ask why.  

  3.        It takes some time for everything to sink in. All of her actions. Her sacrifices. When the light dims in the Hall of Heroes and shadows creep in around him, Dredd finally beings to realize she isn’t coming back this time.  

  4.        Before she even lays her hands on him she can feel his tension pooling beneath the surface. _Physical touch increases the psychic connection_ , she repeats again, voice weaving through his mind to soothe worries and ease his rising anxiety, _I promise it doesn’t hurt_. Through the haze of his thoughts she can feel his trust in her, that stark absolute she knows more through actions than words. Her hand comes to rest against the side of his neck. _I’ll make this quick_.  

  5.        “Will they remember us when we’re gone?” Dredd recognizes that tone as idle thought and knows she’s not expecting an answer from him. They can’t afford to think like that anymore… but sometimes he finds himself wondering the same thing.  

  6.        After Peach Trees she sometimes wonders if staying out of everyone’s heads does more harm than good. It’s never mattered until she realized how far Judges can fall.  

  7.        Other men would have given up a long time ago, but he’s calm and _real_ at her side, staring down Death on his home territory like he’s done it a hundred times before. It’s in this moment she realizes he’s not anything like other men.  

  8.        Some days she feels like there’s only one way out of this hell.  

  9.        If he really wanted to, he could pull himself away and out of bed. He could pry himself out of her arms, ignore the quiet snuffle of protest that follows... but he won’t. He never does.  

  10.    No matter how many years go by the sting of being called a _mutant_ still feels like it did when she was six years old.  

  11.    He allows it because deep down, there’s a part of him that’s always needed someone he could rely on.   

  12.    “It’s not so bad.” The sticky, warm liquid streaming down his face screams otherwise, but he admires her attempt. Her hands come to rest on either side of his face to steady him. He can’t see her, but knows the expression she’s making just by the undertone of her voice. In that moment he wants to believe her more than anything.   

  13.    Sometimes in the middle of the night, the shadows creeping across the room look more like Death than the familiar furnishings of her home. It unsettles her more than she’ll ever let on.  

  14.    When winter comes around she always hates night shifts. What used to be a refreshing breeze becomes icy fingers tugging at all the crevices in her gear, chilling her to the bone. On the nights where she patrols on her own she swears in the dark it’s whispering her name.  

  15.    “Two of a kind.” She knows Dredd misses the passing comment, but she shoots the group of cadets a warning stare. It always means trouble when even the rookies are spreading rumors.  

  16.    “I can hear what you’re thinking,” she grumbles, glaring daggers in Dredd’s direction, “Don’t even say it.” Her hair is soaked, sticking to her cheeks and forehead. Rain definitely wasn’t on the forecast today. She’s pretty sure there’s some kind of smug expression working its way across Dredd’s face. “When they make a helmet that doesn’t dampen my abilities _maybe_ I’ll wear one.”   

  17.    He always notices the tightening of her features that comes with every case involving children, and that distant expression as they pass groups of young cadets at the Academy. ‘ _They don’t understand the world they live in_ ,’ He remembers her saying once, what feels like years ago now, ‘ _It’s not fair_.’ Life isn’t fair. This city isn’t fair. No one ever said it would be.  

  18.    As she’s laying in the med ward for the third time that month, her eyes follow the streak of motion leaving the parking garage that can only be one Judge. If she focuses, she can feel anger rolling of of him in waves even thirty floors below. He has work to do… perps to bring to justice for what they did. No time to waste. The shape of his Lawmaster disappears into the dark of the street and silently she wonders if there’s anyone on the force that understands him like she does.  

  19.    Each time they argue he always comes back around eventually. Most times he never admits when she’s right. She never admits when she’s wrong.  

  20.    He still can’t believe she can bend that way.  

  21.    Every now and then he wonders if he’d be the same if Rico were still around.  

  22.    He assumes after their paths cross for the first time that it will also be the last. After all, there’s no time to build fragile friendships in a city that eats hope alive. She insists otherwise. When they come crawling back from dealing with Death and his brothers, battered and bruised but very much alive, he finally realizes he just might believe her.   

  23.    Sometimes Dredd’s blunt, infuriating comments are just the clarity that she needs. She’s pretty positive telling him this will give him a complex.  

  24.    When Anderson finally manages to catch him off guard enough to try to steal a kiss from him, naturally his first reaction is to jerk back from her. Unfortunately for him she had anticipated this… and unfortunately for her he had spooked more than she thought he would. There’s a bandaid on the bridge of her nose from the edge of his visor for the next week; every person that asks her what happened gets a different story. None of them are true.   

  25.    The first time he allows her to put her hands on him he almost turns to putty under her touch. He yields to her, letting her initiate each movement and gesture as if he believes that yes, _she_ has all the answers. When her nose brushes his and she can feel his breath catch in his chest everything suddenly makes sense; he’s needed this for far longer than he’s ever let on.




End file.
